If they had a Comeback of the Year award in the sport of road racing, Meb Keflezighi would be a leading candidate this year.

And the 2004 Olympic silver medalist will continue the comeback by coming back to a race that helped launch his career: The Quad-City Times Bix 7.

Keflezighi will be one of more than 40 elite American runners entered in the Bix 7 field when the race is held for the 35th time July 25. The race will serve as the U.S. championship for 7 miles this year, just as it did when Keflezighi won it in 2002.

"It’s a great crowd, and I love that you can get close to people there," Keflezighi said. "On the track, you don’t really hear the crowd much as you’re running. In road races, they’re shouting at you and asking you to high-five them. It’s just more fun."

Keflezighi won in 2002 by the largest margin – 52 seconds – in the past quarter-century. He was so far ahead coming down the final hill that he was frolicking and celebrating with spectators as he ran the last mile. That victory was one of a handful that served as a springboard to success in the Boston and New York Marathons and ultimately a runner-up finish at the 2004 Athens Games. He won the first Olympic medal in the marathon by an American male in 28 years.

Years earlier, Keflezighi and his family had escaped civil war in his native Eritrea and settled in San Diego. He attended high school there and starred at UCLA, where he won four NCAA championships, then became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998.

He already had competed in the Olympics once when he first came to the Bix 7, finishing 12th in the 10,000 meters at Sydney in 2000. He also had set a U.S. record in the 10K in 2001 and won USATF cross country titles in both 2001 and 2002.

But he said winning the 2002 Bix gave him much-needed experience and confidence.

"The Bix is known nationally and internationally, and for me to win it at that point in my career was a big deal," he said.

After winning Olympic silver in 2004, Keflezighi continued to compete but not always at the same high level. Last year, he suffered an array of injuries and failed to make the U.S. Olympic team for Beijing, prompting some to speculate that he was washed up at the age of 33.

"I got to know who my real friends were," he said. "I was hurt and wasn’t running well and I think most people thought my career was over."

He has bounced back in a big way this year. He won a national championship at a new distance in January at the Houston Half Marathon and won another USATF cross country title.

He also ran the best marathon time of his career at the Flora London Marathon. His time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 21 seconds was 128 seconds better than what he ran at Athens.

He didn’t do as well in the recent U.S. track and field championships, but he’s looking forward to competing in his fourth Bix 7 a week from Saturday.

"People are really into the race there," Keflezighi said. "I remember getting to (elite athlete coordinator) Dan Breidinger’s house at 6 a.m. on the day of the race, and people already were set up on their lawns with benches and barbecues. It’s just a great race to, and it’s fun to be a part of it."

Bix 7 elites

Among the runners entered in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 on July 25 will be former U.S. Olympians Meb Keflezighi, Anthony Famiglietti, Dan Browne, Brian Sell and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet as well as Bix legends Bill Rodgers and Joan Samuelson and former Moline High School and University of Georgia runner Jill Steffens. The tentative field (with bib numbers):

Men

1 – Meb Keflezighi, San Diego, Calif.

3 – Anthony Famiglietti, Knoxville, Tenn.

7 – Dan Browne, San Diego, Calif.

9 – James Carney, Boulder, Colo.

11 – Ian Burrell, Flagstaff, Ariz.

13 – Michael Kilburg, Rochester Hills, Mich.

15 – Jason Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis, Minn.

17 – Josh Moen, St. Louis Park, Minn.

19 -Brian Sell, Rochester Hills, Mich.

21 – Forest Braden, Spokane, Wash.

25 – Celedonio Rodriquez, Alamosa, Colo.

27 – Bret Schoolmeester, Portland, Ore.

29 – Jason Hartmann, Boulder, Colo.

31 – Antonio Vega, St. Paul, Minn.

33 – Josh Eberly, Gunnison, Colo.

35 – Stephen Furst, Raleigh, N.C.

37 – Nick Arciniaga, Rochester Hills, Mich.

39 – Brian Olinger, Columbus, Ohio

41 – Jeffrey Eggleston, Flagstaff, Ariz.

43 – Dale Dexter, Olathe, Kan.

45 – Bill Rodgers, Sherborn, Mass.

47 – Stephen Haas, Bloomington, Ind.

Women

2 – Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, Oakland, Calif.

4 – Serena Burla, Ellisville, Mo.

6 – Sally Meyerhoff, Eugene, Ore.

8 – Kelly Jaske, Portland, Ore.

10 – Amy Rudolph, Providence, R.I.

12 – Elva Dryer, Gunnison, Colo.

14 – Molly Huddle, Providence, R.I.

16 – Kate O’Neill, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

18 – Zoila Gomez, Alamosa, Colo.

20 – Kassi Andersen, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

22 – Meghan Armstrong, Minneapolis, Minn.

24 – Kathy Newberry, Williamsburg, Va.

26 – Jill Steffens, Athens Ga.

28 – Racheal Marchand, Iowa City

30 – Michelle Lilienthal, Minneapolis, Minn.

32 – Kristen Fryburg, Boulder, Colo.

34 – Kristen Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis, Minn.

36 – Caroline White, Colorado Springs, Colo.

38 – Melissa Christian, Dallas, Texas

40 – Joan Samuelson, Freeport Maine

42 – Melinda Slingsby, Beaverton, Ore.